Recent comments

Great idea Gavin !This would provide kids with a fantastic platform for starting university studies. I do have one question though, what happens to the money if the kids decide they don't want to attend college ? Is there any way to restrict the use of the funds so it is not thought of as an alternative savings account that has the potential to be used for something else (e.g. buying an apartment etc) ?

I like this idea - it has the benefit of reducing costs related to physical attendance and also using devices that the students already have (or can probably acquire for the equivalent of the cost of a few text books). I have 2 questions - 1) is there a particular reason you chose FaceTime over other video call services (i.e Skype etc)? A lot of people use Android devices, and these are often less expensive than Apple products, using a video streaming option that is not o/s specific would make it a bit more accessible.2) video streaming eats up quite a lot of bandwidth, do you forsee any coverage issues for students attending in rural areas where the internet service may be not as good ?

Hi Deepak - great idea! Sites like coursera, edX and other mooc providers have provided free access to a lot of quaility uni courses. My question is about how participation in these courses can practically be taken as a credit.

For something to count as a credit I'd assume there would need to be some type of assessment to determine if the student had mastered the subject matter. Assessments (exams, essays etc) are used in unis as a way to demonstrate that the student has understood the subject matter enough to pass. Marking and evaluating these assessments is typically done by a qualified teacher - this takes time and money. I'd be interested to see if assessments are included in the Open Course and if so, given the course itself is free and generates no revenue from the students, how would they be paid for?